Building Creative Competence in Globally Distributed Courses through Design Thinking

Abstract

Helping students think creatively is consistently cited as one of the key goals of education. Yet, across universities around the world, alarms have been sounding off suggesting that students are not prepared for a world where they are expected to solve messy, unstructured problems that don't have easy answers. This paper introduces design thinking, a human-centered innovation methodology that has been implemented in a design innovation program at Stanford University as well as at one of the most successful design consultancies. After a brief overview of design thinking, the author illustrates the key elements of this innovation pedagogy through its implementation at a university in Colombia. Realizing the potential of this methodology for building creative competence and confidence among students from all disciplines, and recognizing the power of the next generation of information and collaboration technologies and social media, the author proposes new research and development projects that will bring more creativity to traditional distance and blended learning programs through an infusion of design thinking. Ayudar a los estudiantes a pensar de forma creativa suele considerarse uno de los objetivos clave de la educación. Sin embargo, muchas universidades de todo el mundo muestran cierta preocupación al respecto que sugiere que los estudiantes no están preparados para un mundo en el que necesitarán resolver problemas desordenados y desestructurados que no tienen fácil solución. Este artículo presenta el «design thinking» como una metodología para la innovación centrada en las personas, que se ha implementado en un programa para la innovación en el diseño de la Universidad de Stanford, así como en una de las consultoras de diseño más exitosas. Después de un breve resumen del concepto de design thinking, se ilustran los elementos clave de esta pedagogía para la innovación a través de su aplicación en una universidad en Colombia. Rendida cuenta del elevado potencial de esta metodología para la construcción de confianza y capacidad creativa en los estudiantes de todas las disciplinas, y del evidente poder de la próxima generación de tecnologías de la información y la colaboración, así como de los medios sociales, el autor propone nuevos proyectos de investigación y desarrollo que aportarán más creatividad a los programas de educación a distancia y semipresenciales gracias a la aplicación del «design thinking».

El Design Thinking como recurso y metodología para la alfabetización visual y el aprendizaje en preescolares de escuelas multigrado de México

“…En el Design Thinking, la comunicación adquiere relevancia a través del Feedback Correctivo. Steinbeck (2011) considera que es necesario coadyuvar a que los estudiantes lleguen al entendimiento de qué es lo que se necesitan para proyectar sus propuestas en hechos reales.…”

The Effectiveness of Design Thinking Training in Increasing Intention of Innovative Behavior and Creativity

“…Compared to the method lecturing, certain learning methods are empirically proven to be more effective in increasing creativity. The results of research conducted by Steinbeck (2011) show that students' creative thinking abilities towards learning mathematics with methods brainstorming are higher than those using computer learning methods. Studies that try to measure the perceptions and attitudes of the development of logic and creative thinking between learning the methods of reading, presenting, and asking with the Experimental and Discussion Methods show that the Experimental and Discussion Method is better in improving the perception and attitude of the development of logic and creative thinking of students (Marušić and Sliško, 2014).…”

“…Steinbeck (2011) states that throughout the world, situations show that students are not prepared to be able to overcome complex and unstructured problems where they do not have easy answers. Moreover, Steinbeck (2011) states that to meet expectations in the 21st century, educators need to abandon old ideas and pedagogy and be brave to develop a set of learning changes needed for learners and their work in the future. This means reducing the time to explain through instruction and investing more time in forms of experimentation and student involvement that tolerate mistakes.…”

“…The views expressed by Steinbeck (2011) indicate that there are changes in the challenges of today's life and the need for changes in learning methods that are appropriate to these challenges. Compared to the method lecturing, certain learning methods are empirically proven to be more effective in increasing creativity.…”

Bending Moments to Business Models: Integrating an Entrepreneurship Case Study as Part of Core Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

“…However, capstone experiences can be resources-intensive, taking a substantial amount of time (often a semester or academic year 14 ) and significant funding to deliver on design thinking pedagogical goals. An advantage of engineering case study instruction is the ability to engage students in design thinking (technology, business and human values) on a topic-by-topic basis, with relatively small investment of time and resources.…”